Statistics now show that the challenging time of starting high school can have a significant effect on students’ mental health — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mental health disorders are on the rise with students and suicide is a leading cause of death in adolescents.
After a group of Albemarle County students saw mental health affecting their peers, they began pushing to increase the education of the issue in its schools — this year, Virginia became one of only two states in the country to mandate mental education in the statewide school system.
Bette Jean Santos, a Health & Phys. Ed. teacher at Murray High School says 9th & 10th graders are ideal candidates for this kind of education that saves lives:
SANTOS: “These brains are like sponges growing – they’re primed for learning…they’re going to learn, they’re going to “myelinate,” they’re going to hard-wire what they’re doing…”